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Baltimore Orioles: 3 takeaways from the Birds’ first home series win of 2018
By Sam Belden
1. Pedro Alvarez is back
The Orioles are a big-hitting team on paper, but with Mark Trumbo and Jonathan Schoop on the DL and Chris Davis off to an abysmal start, that power hasn’t come across on the field. Through Saturday, they were tied for 11th in the AL with 29 home runs, well behind low-budget squads like Chicago and Oakland.
Enter Alvarez. The former first-round pick headed into the weekend sporting a meager line of .192/.323/.346, but he made up for that lack of production with four majestic home runs — two on Friday night and two on Sunday afternoon.
Take a look at his insurance moonshot in the eighth inning of the rubber game:
With the power surge, Alvarez improved his slash line to .237/.357/.576, one of the best on the team. MLB has no shortage of powerful corner players who can’t play defense, but if Alvarez keeps it up, he could draw modest interest at the trade deadline.
It’s not like he hasn’t produced in the past — he hit 20 doubles and 22 home runs for Baltimore in 2016, good for a .504 slugging percentage. He also co-led the NL in homers back in 2013, tying with Paul Goldschmidt. If Alvarez can continue to swing the bat like his younger self, the Orioles will benefit immensely.